GENEVA: A United Nations rights expert on Monday said there were reasonable grounds to say that Israel had committed several acts of genocide during war in Gaza.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, said that Israel had violated three of the five acts of the UN Genocide Convention.
In a report she said the overwhelming scale of Israel’s attack on Gaza shows its intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group.
Albanese, an independent expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said she had found reasonable grounds to believe that Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva said the country completely rejects the report which is part of the campaign to undermine the establishment of the Jewish State.
In a statement it said that Israel’s war is against Hamas, not against Palestinians.
Since October 7, Israel’s air and ground offensive into Gaza has resulted in the killing of at least 32,333 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and 74,694 injuries, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
South Africa has already filed a case against Israel before the International Court of Justice, saying its attack on Gaza amounts to a violation of the genocide convention.
The court has yet to rule on the matter, but earlier it ordered Israel to take all possible measures to prevent genocidal acts during its military campaign and also to allow in humanitarian assistance.
The report also noted that Israel is treating all Palestinians and their infrastructure as terrorist. It added that no Palestinian in Gaza is safe.
The report also said that Israel’s mistreatment of the Palestinians had not started on October 7.
